PrEP is for individuals who don’t have HIV to help prevent HIV infection.
PrEP stands for “pre-exposure prophylaxis,” which means a daily pill protects you from becoming infected with the HIV virus. The pill contains medicines that are used in combination with other medicines to treat HIV. PrEP has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who are at high risk by up to 99% if taken consistently.

No. PrEP medication does not work the same way as a vaccine. When you take a vaccine, it trains the body’s immune system to fight off infection for years. You will need to take a pill every day by mouth for PrEP medications to protect you from infection. PrEP does not work after you stop taking it. The medication that was shown to be safe and to help block HIV infection is a combination of 2 drugs (tenofovir and emtricitabine). These medicines work by blocking important pathways that the HIV virus uses to set up an infection. If you take PrEP daily, the presence of the medication in your bloodstream can often stop the HIV virus from establishing itself and spreading in your body. If you do not take the pills every day, there may not be enough medicine in your blood stream to block the virus.

PrEP is not for everyone. Doctors prescribe PrEP for some patients who have a very high risk of coming in contact with HIV by not using a condom when they have sex with a person who has HIV infection. You should consider PrEP if you are a man or woman who sometimes has sex without using a condom, especially if you have a sex partner who you know has HIV infection. You should also consider PrEP if you don’t know whether your partner has HIV infection but you know that your partner is at risk (for example, your partner inject drugs or is having sex with other people in addition to you) or if you have recently been told by a health care provider that you had a sexually transmitted infection. If your partner has HIV infection, PrEP may be an option to help protect you from getting HIV infection while you try to get pregnant, during pregnancy, or while breastfeeding.